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Treasury flags $270M in ghost student aid fraud schemes

Treasury’s FinCEN identified roughly $270 million in suspicious transactions linked to federal student aid fraud, including ghost-student schemes using stolen identities, and referred the activity to investigators.

FinCEN alert volume: Financial institutions filed nearly 100 suspicious activity reports after a July alert, covering more than 20,000 potentially suspicious transactions dating to February 2026.
Ghost student tactics: Criminals use stolen personal data or synthetic identities created with AI tools to enroll fake students and divert aid refunds; victims, including minors, often learn of the debt later.
Straw student rings: Fraud groups pay real people for personal information, enroll them, and keep the resulting refunds, sometimes with help from corrupt school employees who alter records.
Administration response: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the programs exist to expand opportunity, not enrich fraudsters, while Education Secretary Linda McMahon noted a new FAFSA tool has already saved more than $2 billion.

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$32M United CEO demands near-100% inheritance tax

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, whose 2025 compensation totaled about $32.3 million, told The New York Times that wealth inequality threatens society and backed a national wealth tax plus near-100% inheritance taxes on some estates.

Kirby’s exact stance: He said a national wealth tax is needed because a state-level version would simply prompt the rich to move, and he personally would pay inheritance taxes approaching 100% at some unspecified level.
Interview context: The remarks came in a Sunday Times interview about declining public trust in corporate executives amid broader debates over taxing high-net-worth Americans.
Current estate rules: Federal estate tax currently tops out at 40% on taxable estates above a $15 million individual exemption in 2026, according to the IRS.
No rate specified: Kirby did not name a preferred wealth-tax rate or the exact estate size that would trigger the near-100% inheritance levy he supports.

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GM beats Q3, adds $20B buyback, but stock plunges 6%

General Motors reported $50 billion in Q3 revenue and $3.70 adjusted EPS, beating estimates, raised its auto free-cash-flow outlook to $11.5–12.5 billion, and authorized a new $20 billion buyback, yet shares dropped about 6% early Tuesday.

Earnings and cash: Adjusted EBIT reached $4.1 billion, up nearly 22%, while automotive free cash flow jumped 40% to $5.9 billion; full-year adjusted EBIT guidance tightened to $14.5–15.5 billion.
Buyback scale: The new multiyear authorization has no expiration date and follows nearly $30 billion in repurchases over the past five years; Barron’s noted it could allow buying back more than 25% of the company.
Market reaction: Shares fell more than 6% in premarket trading despite the beat, with investors focused on a weakening U.S. auto market, higher financing costs, and pressure on lower-priced models.
Volume and China: U.S. sales fell 5.5% to 670,974 vehicles, EV volume dropped about 62%, and profit from China fell 60% year-over-year to $32 million.

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3M jumps on expanded Amazon data-center deal and warrant

3M stock rose after the company expanded its data-center products deal with Amazon, including warrants for up to 3.16 million shares, then reported Q3 earnings of $2.50 a share on $6.6 billion in sales.

Deal structure: Amazon received warrants to buy up to 3,162,015 shares over seven years at $164.89, with 85% of the shares vesting.
Earnings beat: Third-quarter EPS of $2.50 topped the $2.38 consensus on sales of $6.6 billion, up from $2.19 EPS and $6.2 billion a year earlier.
AI positioning: The expanded Amazon agreement positions 3M as a supplier of optical-connectivity products for AI data centers.
Stock movement: Shares jumped in extended trading on the deal announcement and were up about 1% year-to-date heading into Tuesday’s session.

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IBM faces make-or-break earnings after 25% summer crash

IBM reports Q3 results Wednesday as shares remain well below their summer peak after a sharp post-earnings drop in July, giving the company a chance to restore investor confidence.

Summer setback: The stock suffered a steep decline after July results that missed expectations, ending a streak of beats and raising questions about delayed large deals.
Street expectations: Analysts look for roughly $2.87 in adjusted EPS and about $16.8 billion in revenue, implying mid-single-digit growth.
Software focus: Investors will watch whether recurring software growth accelerates toward the high-single-digit rates management had projected for the second half.
Recovery path: Shares have stabilized in recent weeks but remain significantly lower year-to-date after the July selloff.

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Tesla earnings spotlight Musk’s SpaceX merger talk

Ahead of Tesla’s earnings, analysts weigh the possibility of a Tesla-SpaceX merger while Elon Musk and Alphabet together hold SpaceX shares worth nearly $979 billion.

Ownership stake: Musk and Alphabet are the two largest owners of SpaceX, whose shares closed at $147.96, putting their combined holdings near $979 billion.
Analyst views: Wall Street has increasingly treated a combination as a consensus expectation, citing overlapping AI work, operational ties, and vertical-integration benefits.
Timing window: Some analysts see a potential announcement before Tesla’s annual meeting, required by early December, though neither company has confirmed a deal.
Musk comments: The CEO has spoken of growing overlap between the companies and continues to discuss both Tesla’s vehicle and AI plans alongside SpaceX’s ambitions.

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U.S. bans DeepSeek from all civilian federal systems

The Department of Homeland Security ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek technology, including third-party products built on it, and to stop purchasing it, citing data-transfer and security risks.

Order details: Issued July 24 and made public October 20, the directive covers all federal civilian agencies but excludes the Defense Department; agencies may request exceptions with written justification within 60 days.
Security concerns: DHS cited potential transfer of sensitive U.S. government data to China and vulnerabilities, including critical issues previously identified in DeepSeek’s iOS app.
Prior restrictions: Congress limited DeepSeek in intelligence systems in December 2025, Commerce bureaus banned it on government devices in March 2025, and the Defense Information Systems Agency blocked access in January 2025.
China response: Beijing’s foreign ministry said it would protect its companies’ interests and opposed over-generalizing national security or politicizing technology and trade.

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French bond yields near 24-year high as protests loom

French 10-year OAT yields rose 3 basis points to 4.96% and the spread over German Bunds widened to 152.5 basis points after weekend riots, with fresh demonstrations planned for Saturday.

Yield levels: The 10-year OAT reached as high as 4.9937% earlier in October, its highest since July 2002, while the OAT-Bund spread touched 158.67 basis points, the widest since November 2011.
Protest impact: Weekend riots added to investor caution about the government’s ability to reduce the deficit, and new demonstrations are scheduled for this Saturday.
Broader spreads: Italian spreads also widened, rising 4.5 basis points to 113.51 basis points on the same day.
Market caution: Investors remain focused on fiscal challenges as yields sit near multi-decade highs.

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Treasury flags $270M in ghost student aid…